Principles and Policies for Candidates

Principles of the Casualty Actuarial Society for Basic Education

The primary purpose of the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) basic education process is to ascertain whether candidates for the CAS designations have satisfied CAS learning objectives. The CAS Board of Directors adopted the following principles on May 6, 2001.

Basic education will remain a cornerstone of the CAS.
The CAS will assure that its members have the knowledge of those areas needed to practice effectively in the broad and expanding range of property, casualty, and similar business and financial risks (general insurance).
The CAS is committed to a depth of knowledge of techniques associated with the broad range of property, casualty, and similar business and financial risks.
The CAS will provide the basic education necessary to meet qualification standards to sign statements of actuarial opinion for general insurance and related specialties in at least the U.S. and Canada.
The education process will provide a balance among theoretical concepts, practical applications, and business acumen, to prepare our members to deliver high-quality service to meet current and projected future needs of employers and clients.
The CAS will approve the syllabus and examination standards used in determining eligibility for CAS membership.
Demonstration of mastery of the skill sets required of members is critical to basic education.
The CAS is committed to maintaining self-study as one route for attainment of designations.
The CAS will pursue strong working relationships with academia and professionals in related fields.
The CAS will attract a pool of strong candidates from a variety of backgrounds to the actuarial profession.
The CAS supports the goal of developing a global shared foundation of actuarial education, including joint sponsorship of examinations where consistent with other principles.
The CAS, as an educator of general insurance and related specialties, will remain a significant contributor to the worldwide actuarial profession.

Code of Professional Ethics for Candidates

Casualty Actuarial Society Code of Professional Ethics for Candidates (As Introduced January 1, 2008) The purpose of the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) Code of Professional Ethics for Candidates (Candidate Code) is to require actuarial candidates to adhere to the high standards of conduct, practice, and qualifications of the actuarial profession, thereby supporting the actuarial profession in fulfilling its responsibility to the public.

An actuarial candidate shall comply with the Candidate Code. An actuarial candidate who commits a material violation of the provisions of the Candidate Code shall be subject to the counseling and discipline procedures of the CAS. “Actuarial candidates” are those persons who have registered for a CAS specific exam but have yet to fulfill all of the requirements for admission into the CAS. In situations where actuarial candidates perform actuarial work, their “principal” is defined as their client or employer. “Actuarial services” are professional services provided to a principal by an individual acting in the capacity of an actuary. Such services include the rendering of advice, recommendations, findings or opinions based upon actuarial considerations.

Rule 1: An actuarial candidate shall act honestly, with integrity and competence, to uphold the reputation of the actuarial profession.

Rule 2: An actuarial candidate shall not engage in any professional conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation or commit any act that reflects adversely on the actuarial profession.

Rule 3: An actuarial candidate shall perform actuarial services with courtesy and professional respect and shall cooperate with others in the principal’s interest.

Rule 4: An actuarial candidate shall adhere to the CAS Policy on Examination Discipline.

Rule 5: Actuarial candidates are not authorized to use membership designations of the CAS until they are admitted to membership by the CAS Executive Council.

Rule 6: An actuarial candidate shall not disclose to another party any confidential information unless authorized to do so by the principal or required to do so by law, statute or regulation. Confidential information includes information of a proprietary nature and information that is legally restricted from circulation.

Rule 7: An actuarial candidate shall respond promptly, truthfully and fully to any request for information by, and cooperate fully with, appropriate counseling and disciplinary body of the CAS in connection with any disciplinary, counseling or other proceeding of such body relating to the Candidate Code. The actuarial candidate’s responsibility to respond shall be subject to applicable restrictions listed in Rule 6 and those imposed by law, statute or regulation.

(The CAS Board of Directors approved the code above on November 12, 2006, effective with the Spring 2008 exam sitting.)

Report Exam Misconduct by a Member or a Candidate

You can help protect the integrity of the Casualty Actuarial Society examinations and membership designations by reporting conduct that does not meet the Code of Professional Conduct for CAS Members and/or the Code of Professional Ethics for Candidates, including the CAS Examination Discipline Policy.

CAS members are obligated to report misconduct. Cheating on an examination is a direct violation of Rule 1.

The CAS will review all examination complaints on a confidential basis.

How To Report Examinations Misconduct

You may submit your examinations misconduct complaint anonymously; however, the CAS Discipline Committee in conjunction with the ABCD may need more details so we encourage you to provide contact information.

There are two options to report examinations misconduct: